Electrjg furnace and method of operatsmg the same



(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 1.

\ A. H. GOWLES.

ELECTRIC FURNACE AND METHOD OF OPERATING THE SAME.

1%. 335,058 Patented Jan. 26, 1886.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

A. H. UOWLES. ELECTRIC. FURNACE AND ME OD OF OPERATING THE SAME. No. 335,058. Patentgd Jan. 26, 1886.

MAIN CI CLIIT FIGJI- flZ/rec? HI Una/Yes WITNESSES l/VVENTOR electrodes situatotl at opposiio out amount oi .tru'iin-iii oration of the furnace.

jFFiib is ALFRED li. C93 'LES, OF (Iiilii'EiJANii, {ii-iii).

fiPiflQIFEIC fEfT-LQKE forming part of Letters Fates N0.

A gmlirnlinn filvd May 13, 1935.

2"!) will whom I 72mg; aoncern:

Bo izuown that i, ALi'RED ii. CowLEs, a oitizon oi the United Stutcsuresiiiing at Charo innii, the oouuiy oi" ijugrnirogri anti Siaio ol" @h'io, horn inrontoii certain new and usui'ui imorovemsnis in Eluotrio Furnaces and Iiiuihod oi QiBfii'iH-iilg the Same; suit 1' (lo herrhy (ii:- ciurs following to he a. hill, clear, and exnot; tiesoript-ion oi iho invention, such as will eiilibififliiii iS sitiiieri in the int in) which it uposrtsins i maiio anti use the some, reirrence hoing to the acrompau xing :irnwings, and toieiters or of roi'eronou inuriioai thereon, which form a port iiiis s n: ificniion.

This iuvoniiongeiutes it; ehssiricui Siiitiliii i'urnz -cus on tho incandescentprin- Liple, u" ich nisigrliurgieni operations igliiiiilg intense heat married on, with eioctrioity as iho heot-protiuoing agent This inv gntiou oonsisi's in ii tiznprorsi method of operating has -11; rinotrio furnaces he s rein tiesorihsti, and sou-shination, with. furnaes containing a ohurgo of oioctriroi rasintuncs iuutoriui, of i-u'o inomhio is oil'ho inrnace, and proiecting into the hoti oi" the charge contained wiiiiin it, 1.12) the said rieotroties way, when the resistance runs down, be drawn apart, thereby increasing tho amountoi' the charge between the electrodes, and consequently inoransing the rosisianoe, anti thus preserving a i'uiiioriu resist once with in the iuruaoo.

iron air-o consists tiiozirruu gemust snitnhle mocimuisin mint tad o3, iho currsnt or portion oi'l'ho sumo for mztomatlo uiiy moving tho olcotroiirs,so as to gorcru'tiu-z niiiizo-Cs in i'urnaro in tho rim-wings represents a iongiii shows suhsiuniiuii? ho some Viiii'l" u.

uniomrti oaliy iii-wring t pari, the oisciroties by moons of a, timgnot, vibrating urmuturr, and shuniui-nnii; oiso sizoirs the mush-notion of tho uoninot-hoxes employed.

'A ore the iurnnoe-wuils, which may he 0Olistrnctmi offire-hriclc or other similar material.

They are preferahiy constructed so that the .v- FUEENKGE AND METHOD @i 'QFEQATENG u: thirnace, and so $5 .8 arrangement mechanism for Ti-iii SAME.

59, dated Eanuary 26,1886.

Serial No. 165,

B is a lining for proiociing the walls of the furnace. This iinin-gisforined offinulypulven izeii charcoal or thor sinrilnrinoterial of in frrior electric "ll cominc'tirity to the charge to be operated on, and which is also bad confluotor of heat.

C is the positive, and C the negative, elm-- trade. Connected to these are tho niresr' and c, for conducting the oTectricity to the furnace. These eleetroiies are preierr bly forniethol rods ol'mrhou, which project into the bod- 0i tho ohm-go through the furnace trails and linin i) is the charge. This consists, ordinarily, of eioctrical resistance nmteriuL-such as elect-riciighi curhoi1-gindthe ore to be reduced. Both of these are previously pulverized and intimately mixed together before being pinged in ihe furnace; but in some cases pulrerizetl or alone is, used when it is a sufiicientconiiueior of electricity. The charge fills the whole length, with the except-ion of the protecting-packing ii iii, the ends of the furnace, and it presses against the sides and ends of each oi the olortrocies which project into it. The current of electricity lions from the sides anti ends of the said electrodes through the charge, 8M1 causes, the electrical resistance iotorini in the charge to become incandescent. The intense heat of the sand incandescent maitii reduces the ore.

When the inmate is employed for the reiitietiou of ore, the metal is found at the close of the operation filiing the interstices between furnace has its largest dimensions in u horil ihesu, unii winging; into thcuotiro part of the zon'ul (iilQCiiOiL-flild isroniparnlivciy shuliou' l elortrimi iiolii :uhlilinnul ports of tho chantgv.

In this manner by successive withdraw-lugs of the electrodes a uniform resistance is preserved until the entire charge is broughtinto action.

to the electrode 0.

The movement of the electrodes may be effected by clock-work mechanism, by hand,or automatically by the current of electricity in the circuit, so that the greatest possible amount of electrical energy in the circuit may be utilized from the beginning to the end of the'oper ation in the' furnace. v I In Fig. 2 is shown a convenient manner of operating the electrodesautomatioally by means of a Shuntcircuit, magnet-,and vibrating armaturc.-

G represent magnets connected in the main circuit, and wound in the opposite direction with the wire of the shunt-circnit. That from the positive pole leads to the positive electrode O, and that of the negative pole leading to the contact-point His avibrating armatur with a contactpoint, h, connected by a wire leading to the negati e el-ctrode O, or to the main wire leading thereto. To the arm-attire is attached the spring I, the tension of which is'regulated by J is the red by which the armature is suspended, and at the upper end is provided with a friction-clutch, 7',\embracing the hub of the ratchet-wheel K, the teeth of which are engaged by the retaining-pawl k. A train of gears connect the ratchet-wheel with the gear L, that engages the rack M, that is attached This rack also engages the pinion N, that is connected by a cross-belt or other suitable means with the duplicate pinion, N', engaging the rack' M, connected with the electrode G, by which arrangement the electrodes are sinmltaneously moved equal distances in opposite directions.

The electrodes are employed not alone to maintain a given resistance, but also to throw freslrore into the zone of reduction.

In operating the furnace, as the heat increases and the electrical resistance consequently decreases, causing too great a current, the armaturc fl is drawn to ward the magnet, causing a contact of the points 9 and h, connecting the shunt-circuit, by means of which a portion of the current is passed around instead of through the furnace, thus lessening v of course increases the electrical resistance,-

the power of the magnet, so that the armature is again drawn toits normal position by the tension of the spring. With themovement'of the armature toward the magnet the frictionclurch slides on the hub of the ratchet-wheel; but v th'the reverse movement ofthe armature. caused by the spring, the ratchet-wheel is advanced .a notch, thereby withdrawing the electrodes a trifle from the furnace, and such increase in the distance between the electrodes and consequently decreases the volume of electrical current through the furnace. As the' electrodes are drawn apart by successive increments, additional portions of the charge drop into the spaces in front of the electrodes and a continuous body of material is preserved between them and in contact always with both.

The. extent of this mass of material within the zone of action gradually increases until the whole of the charge is involved.

Of course various modifications of the governing mechanism maybe made without dc parting from the spirit of my invention.

' In charging the furnace the pawl may be thrown back and the ratchet-wheel turned by hand to adjust the electrodes. It the electrodes in theheated condition in which they usually emerge from the furnace were exposed to the air, they would oxidize and be red need in size, to avoid which I have provided the copper contact-boxes P, that are secured to thewalls A, and have lateral holes throughwhich the electrodes pass. Theboxes are filled with,'preterably, coppershot, R, of small size, surrounding the electrodes. Copper, on account of its well-known properties of conducting heat and electricity, is preferable in most cases for this purpose,and the wires are attached to the boxes I. As the heated portions of the electrodes emerge slowly from the furnace, they first encounter the shot, by means of which the heat is rapidly transmitted from the electrodes, so that the heated portions, as they pass out of the respective boxes, are somuch reduced in temperatu re that they are not injured by exposure to the air. The shot or globular form for the packing or filling in the box P is not essential, but is preferable. The movement maybe confined to but one of the electrodes, or both may be made movable. It will be seen that the. feed mechanism of an are light may be readily adapted to move theelectrodes outward as the resistancefalls; but in the present case sueha feed mechanism, instead of being adjusted so as to maintain the extremities of the electrodes at a uniform distance apart and to feed them in" toward each other as they are consumed, is so arranged that it feeds the electrodes outward farther and farther apart as the operation progresses, the space between them alwaysbeing kept filled with the charge. I f it were desired to lessen the resistance duringthe smelting operation, by lessening the amount of the charge between the electrodes, they may be pushed in; and in order to allow this they should be made with pointed ends. 7

E is a layer of' granular charcoal covering the top of the charge.

is a slab of fire-clay, or other similar material, provided with vent-holes f; This slab covers the whole of the top of the-furnace, and is luted around the edges betorethe operation commence L" A small space is left he,

tween the top ofy e layer of charcoal, E, and the bottom of the slab F. The gases given on by theoharge during the process of reduction pass off through the layer of-granular charcoal and out of the vent-holes f. I

I am aware that it is not new to make the electrodes of an electric furnace automatically adjustable, so that as the resistance diminishes they are drawn apart, and I do not claim the :3. In an incandescent electrical smelting apsame, broadly; but all such attempts and cxparatns, the combination of a furnace-champeriments have relation to furnaces in which the electric arc is employed, and the electrodes being subject to rapid wear the loss must be compensated for. The conditions there existing are similar to those found in the case of an electricarc lighta constant distance must be p reserved between the electrodes,and the wear thereof must be compensated for; but in the present instance there is no material wear to the electrodes, a continuous body of material is preserved between the electrodes, and the distance between them varies, gradually widening from the beginning of the operation until the whole of the charge is brought into action.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The method of smelting ores and other substances by the incandescence of an electrical resistance material contained in said substances or mixed therewith, which consists in first bringing a limited quantity of the material to be treated between a pair ofelectrodes, and then gradually increasing the quantity of such material by causing the electrodes to recede from each other, substantially as herein set forth.

2. 1n the art of smelting ores and other substances by the direct heating action of the elcctric current, the method of obtaining a uni form action of said electric current upon the mass or charge to be treated,herein described, which consists in introducing into the charge electrodes which are normally in proximity to each other, and then gradually causing said elec trodes to recede from each other, the contact with the charge still being preserved until the mass of the charge is contained between the said electrodes, substantially as set forth.

her having electrodes fitted into its opposite sides, with suitable mechanism for bringing said electrodes normally in proximity to each other within the furnace-chamber and gradnally separating the same during the smelting process to the full extent of said flllllilCQ-Cllitllb ber, substantially as herein set forth.

a. In an incandescent electrical smelting apparatus, the combination of a furnace-chamber having electrodes fitted into its opposite sides, mechanism for normally bringing said electrodes in proximity to each other and gradually separating the same during the smelting process to the full extent of the furnace-chamher, and a charge of electrical resistance material in contact with both electrodes during the entire process, substantially as herein set forth.

5. The combination, with an adjustable electrode of an electric furnace, of a mass of heatconducting particles, preferably globular, encompassing the electrode outside of the furnacech amber, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

6. The combination, with adjustable elec trodes, of contact-boxes, preferably of copper, located one at either end of an electric furnace, and through which the electrodes pass, filling for the boxes, preferably of copper, and preferabl y of a globular formation, arranged around the respective electrodes and in contact therewith, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ALFRED H. COlVLES.

Witnesses:

ALBERT E. LYNCH, CHAS. H. Donne. 

